What a way to launch myself onto the forum as a newbie with a topic like this!

Some very helpful live chat members said that my condition may be formication but I can't see anything about my type of itch!

I have had itchiness on & off for a year in my pubic area, not an internal yeasty thing, but very superficial outward skin itch, like i'm infested! At first the doc said it was connected to high sugar & diabetes but tests show it's not.

It more oftern flares in the night & drives me nuts! I do have an itchy scalp occasionally but nowhere near as much grief from that & it's more socially acceptable to scratch your head!!

I have tried various creams like E45 & aveeno but if anything it just aggravates.

Is this a peri / meno thing? Can anyone reassure me that I'm not a total freak & suggest something to help alleviate this? Pretty please?

Hi there and welcome

Don't worry about ANY subject you wish to discuss here. This is the wonderful thing about Powersurge. We discuss anything and everything. You are most certainly not a freak!

I had itchiness like yours a few years ago during peri. It was so bad I went to the doctor. It was on the pubic area but not right down between my legs so much.
The doctor examined me and said my skin was aging-haha-which was probably causing the irritation.
She gave me some cortisone cream which did absolutely nothing!

I have a friend who is a midwife and we were discussing it (as you do). She asked me if I was using talc and if so which sort. At the time I was using Johnsons baby powder-I had used it forever.
She said that at the hospital they had advised the mothers to stop using it on their new babies and had taken it out of the gift packs as the formulation had changed and a lot of babies were getting rashes. So I stopped using it and hey-presto the itching stopped!

There are so many things that could cause it-like the laundry powder you use, or talc if you use it?
Failing that it could just be what my doctor told me mine was-aging skin.
Could you try changing things one at a time and see if anything makes a difference?

By the way I get an itchy scalp too and sometimes if flares up and I get little spots. Apparently this is caused by a yeast Pityrosporum-and I treat it with a special Ketoconazole shampoo. It works a treat on my scalp but I don't know if you could use it on the pubic area
I would doubt it as it is very strong but maybe the doctor could prescribe something with Ketoconazole which you could use in that area? Hope you find a solution.

As for the formication. I had that for a while after my surgical menopause. In my experience it is a very different feeling from itching. It feels like something crawling under your skin. I found it was more generalised-all over the body and not an itchy feeling-quite different.

Hope that helps


janet c

and you for sure are not "infested" with like crabs or lice
or bed bugs?please dont get offended, jus have to eliminate all possiable causes....

I have not had this symptom--yet ...but have had other vag irritations. I have read such itching is common during peri--I read this, I think, in Our Bodies, Ourselves, menopause. They vividly described someone scratching to the point of bleeding.....

Anyway, have you considered trying a topical estrogen cream just in case the problem is low estrogen? Might ask your doc. I found it more helpful that cortisone cream for my issues--more a burning and irritated feeling, inside and out.

Honestly-how RUDE

Sissy I didn't mean your reply of course but the rather tactless one before

janet c

Hi there....


Janet c always is right on with her answers....





First of all, here is a very big WELCOME from all of us!




It is true, this is a place that we discuss everything from meno to relationships to current events, all viewed through crazed meno minds. LOL! I can't tell you how wonderful this forum has been for me. I only wish that I would have found it sooner; it would have saved me from many wasted days.

Cotton undies will help. Also, you might try gold-bond powder. Sometimes this helps. It is amazing stuff.


You also could be having an off/on mild yeast overgrowth. You might try an over the counter product.
Use in internally and externally.


Next as Janet suggested start changing things. Your laundry detergent first. Wash your panties separately if you try an expensive "organic" detergent. Perhaps Dreft (baby detergent) or Ivory. Both of these are very mild.

Next...bath soap. Change it. Some soaps are so drying and cause problems.


If you shave, it could be an infection of your hair folicals. If this is the case, you can use a shaving lotion. (I looked at the ingredients on a bottle. It looked almost the same as hand sanitizer! LOL! )

Since you have already been to a doc, you will have to track this one down by yourself. I hope we were able to give you a starting point.


We look forward to getting to know you,
Shebee

Thank you for your comments.
I don't use talc, have changed soaps & detergents & only use baby laundry products, only ever wear cotton, have tried cortisone (which irritated even more), I KNOW it's not a yeast infection cos i used to get that all the time in my younger years & I am not playing host to any parasites. BUT I have not tried an estrogen cream, did not know it existed (am in the UK). And it's reassuring that you have heard of someone else who has similar experience.
If it's not meno / peri then I am truly stumped.
x

I used to itch in the pubic area....alot...almost felt like i was infested with something...but wasn't.I started trimming my hair there,down to almost nothing,and it has made a huge difference.

forgot to add that i think most of my itching was due to sweating all the time....

I had some of this itching and used Ovestin (available in the Uk) and it cleared. I'm now using Bio Identicals and have stopped with ovestin and it has not returned.
Louise

Thank you everyone!

You have certainly all given me some ideas to remedy this as well as reassuring me that I'm not alone in this! I will work my way through suggestions & let you know ~ best you can hardly wait for the feedback "Pubic Itch The Sequel"!!!

x

ps!

have just been looking up Bio Identicals. Is that something you picked up over the counter or saw the doc or some other source?

I got my Bio Identicals from a private doctor in London
Louise